O YOU WHO BELIEVE…

The Quran is a beautiful book. It is intended for all times, for all peoples, for all situations. We are instructed to read it from cover to cover, to listen when it is recited, to learn from the lessons it contains. I recently noticed that many, many verses begin: “O you who believe…” And many of those verses end with: “that you may succeed.” (for instance, 5:35 and 22:77). That got me to thinking.

What we humans most want to do is succeed. Most people see success as something of this world—money, children, respect, material possessions. These things are fine. But if we want to be included among “O you who believe,” we know that our focus has to be on God—worshiping Him, appreciating His blessings, following His commandments.

In the verses that begin: “O you who believe,” God isn’t talking to the idol worshipers. He’s not talking to the disbelievers. Therefore, these verses contain what we, as would-be believers, need to become more righteous, more God-conscious, more appreciative, and more aware of the dangers of straying off of God’s path.

There are verses that specifically talk about practices of our religion: Charity (2:254, 2:67) and its opposite, usury (2:278, 3:130); fasting (2:183); and prayer and ablution (2:153, 24:58, 5:6, 4:43), including the importance of the Friday prayer: [62:9-10] O you who believe, when the Congregational Prayer (Salat Al-Jumu'ah) is announced on Friday, you shall hasten to the commemoration of GOD, and drop all business. This is better for you, if you only knew. Once the prayer is completed, you may spread through the land to seek GOD's bounties, and continue to remember GOD frequently, that you may succeed.

There were verses that cover obeying the laws that God has decreed: equivalence when dealing with crimes (2:178) and when serving as witnesses (4:135, 5:8); not to prohibit what God has made lawful (2:172, 5:87); how to treat each other—not to make fun or conspire secretly, to make room for one another, to be fair in our dealings (24:27, 49:11, 4:29, 58:9 & 11, 33:53)—even the longest verse in the Quran, 2:282, begins “O you who believe.”

If we are to be believers, we must obey God and His messengers:  [47:33] O you who believe, you shall obey GOD, and obey the messenger. Otherwise, all your works will be in vain.

There are about 20 verses that begin with “O you who believe,” and instruct us to observe God. This is perhaps the most important part of striving to be a believer—coming to understand who God is, to reverence His awesome power, and to be appreciative of Him. (66:8, 33:70, 49:1, 8:24, 9:119, 3:200 and others).  [59:18] O you who believe, you shall reverence GOD, and let every soul examine what it has sent ahead for tomorrow. You shall reverence GOD; GOD is fully Cognizant of everything you do.

Even more “O you who believe” verses are what I would call warnings. God instructs us of the pitfalls of this world and Satan’s sworn enmity. 24:21 is an example:  O you who believe, do not follow the steps of Satan. Anyone who follows the steps of Satan, should know that he advocates evil and vice.

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